Ninjabread Man

In the December book box I created for a holiday gift for a five-year-old I included a pair of special pajamas and a favorite book on the package to be opened on Christmas Eve.

The pajamas, combined my favorite gingerbread men with the five-year-olds interest in ninjas.

(Note: Later this Book Reader Review was posted on YouTube by Pryor Optimus -- check out his channel.  This review of Jack B. Ninja is at http://bit.ly/JackBNinja).  

And later by chance I came across this delightful book and a cookie mix (and cookie cutters to go with it).

I was not aware of this book and since it was published in 2016, I felt I had missed something fun.  The book is read aloud in the Story Train series on YouTube at https://youtu.be/nRaxlAjp7bE.  And the book itself is available from a number of retailers (and through online retailers as well).

A fellow librarian posted a bit of information on a professional website, telling about this cookie kit she found at the Aldis store in her community.  I found it at several locations online, including at Party City where it was actually on holiday clearance for less that 50% of its original price.  My local Party City had ONE left.  I managed to get it and felt like I had snagged a prize.

So my plans began.  I gathered the several traditional versions of the Gingerbread Boy/Man story, and a few of the related fractured versions and ...

Found my favorite gingerbread recipe.  But there is a recipe for Ninjabread at the end of Leigh's The Ninjabread Man.

Now I just have to plan some fun with the Ninjabread Man.  Please share some of your fun with this series of books.

Actually if you can locate a copy of the Russian version of "The Gingerbread Boy" titled The Bun: A Tale from Russia by Marcia Brown. It is the story of: "The story of Kolobok - the little round roll or bun, who runs away from his creators, and teases a series of animals, before finally being outwitted (and eaten) by a fox.  The ending in The Bun is quite similar to the ending in The Ninjabread Man.